John Wall Says Wizards to Have Top-Five Back Court With Bradley Beal

Washington Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal spent a lot of time in Las Vegas together this summer, and Wall — very confident, and nearly paid — thinks the duo can be one of the very best in the NBA. Per the WaPo: “Wall spent much of the past week in Las Vegas playing off the ball and working on perimeter jumpers to help open up more one-on-one opportunities for Beal. Beal plans to become a better playmaker and distributor to take some pressure off Wall. ‘Each year you want to bring something to your game that the coaches notice and other people are going to notice. That shows you’re working hard and dedicated to getting better,’ Beal said. ‘We both have things in our games that we need to work on — my ballhandling, his shooting — and we’re both working hard at it, and we’re both competing against each other. We take it seriously. At the end of the day, it’s going to make our team better as well.’ The Wizards went 16-9 in games with both Beal and Wall in the lineup and 13-44 without one of them on the floor. ‘I feel if both of us stay healthy, we’ll be top-five, top-six best back courts in the league,’ Wall said. ‘Him as a young player, he’s very mature. He knows how the game goes. He’s just like me, a competitive person.’ When Wall took breaks during Team USA practices, he often would huddle with Beal to exchange ideas and tips. They expect the experience of the past few weeks to help with their chemistry heading into next season, when they hope to end the Wizards’ five-year postseason drought. ‘We have to make the playoffs. That’s our ultimate goal,’ Beal said. ‘We definitely have the team be able to do it, the caliber of players and great character guys on top of that, so it’s up to us to just stay healthy and keep working hard and making each other better, and it starts with me and John.'”